And quotes “Mizrachi.org“, no less. I just knew it!
Here’s an excerpt:
Unsurprisingly, the longer you live in Israel, the harder it becomes to relate to those who choose to live in exile. And so it’s not shocking that every few weeks another article written by an exasperated oleh appears on Arutz Sheva, excoriating Diaspora Jews for not returning home. The arguments are familiar: “Jews in America have no future! How can they be blind to the sky-high assimilation rates and rising antisemitism?!” “They are repeating the failure of the Babylonian Jews who refused to return to Israel and build the Beit HaMikdash!” Some frustrated olim have gone so far as to pick fights on social media, accusing people of making South Florida the “new Jerusalem” and hypocritically praying for the building of Jerusalem three times a day while expanding their synagogues in the Diaspora.
I agree with many of these points. I also believe that G-d is sending us all a clear message to come home. But it is also obvious that attacking Diaspora Jewry has achieved little more than resentment and frayed relationships, counterproductively making it harder for Jews living in exile to absorb the teachings of Religious Zionism. Telling an older woman that she should make Aliyah now, since “you don’t want to make Aliyah in a box,” as someone recently told my friend’s mother (really!), likely won’t have the desired effect. People don’t appreciate being yelled at – even if you’re making a fair point.
How, then, can Religious Zionists encourage more Jews to come home? What is the best way to convey our message? The answer can be found by looking backwards, to a time when Am Yisrael was still young in the Land and struggled with many of the same challenges we face today.
…
“Elkana used to go up to Shiloh… His wives and sons, the members of his household… came up with him. On the way he would camp out in town squares… Wherever they went, people would notice them and ask, ‘Where are you going?’ ‘To the house of G-d in Shiloh,’ [Elkana would reply]. ‘Why don’t you come with us and we shall go up together?’ Thereupon [the people] would shed tears and say, ‘We shall go up with you.’ The following year five households would go up, the next ten, and the year after, all would assemble to go up… Elkana did not go up by the same route twice. Finally, all of Israel would go up to Shiloh” (Tanna Dvei Eliyahu Rabbah 8).
Elkana didn’t rebuke his fellow Jews or look down upon them with condescension. He didn’t grab the pulpit in local synagogues or stand on a street corner to castigate the townspeople for abandoning the Mishkan. Instead, he simply traveled from town to town, and when people asked him where he was going, he shared his excitement about going up to the Mishkan. “We are going to G-d’s house; it would be great if you came with us!” Elkana’s passion for the Mishkan, combined with his overflowing love for his fellow Jews triggered powerful, deep-seated emotions among the people. Their cynicism and disillusionment melted away, and they broke down in tears.